Progress has been made in Wisconsin in recent years in reducing the number of youth who have not committed a crime being locked up with youth who have. But, we can do better. These “status offenders” are often truants who fail to comply with court orders to attend school or habitual runaways that frustrate the court’s attempt to get them engaged in services. Unlike some states, Wisconsin law allows this to under certain conditions, but rarely is it a solution to meeting the needs of the youth and too often makes things worse.
The Coalition for Juvenile Justice has just released its National Standards for the Care of Youth charged with Status Offenses, an extensive (meaning don’t hit the print button too soon!!) review of best practices and issues in working with these youth. Locking status offenders up with delinquent youth because we can does not make it the right thing to do!
Jim Moeser
